JP3090503U - A device for attaching a pair of snowboard bindings to a snowboard - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for mounting a binding (3) to a gliding board (1). In one embodiment, a single row of attachment features (2), e.g., threaded inserts, may be used to mount a foot binding to the gliding board. The attachment features may be equally spaced along the row, e.g., at 25 mm increments. In one embodiment, a binding includes a hold down disk (32) that may be attached to the gliding board using only two fasteners, e.g., each fastener engaging with an attachment feature on the board, or using only fasteners that lie along a longitudinal line on the gliding board. <IMAGE>

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Field of invention]

 This invention relates to binding mounting devices, such as those used in snowboards, skis, snowshoes, and other devices.

[0002]

[Description of Related Technology]

 While riding, the feet of the snowboarder are typically tightly secured to the snowboard with bindings. The binding may be mounted to the snowboard in a variety of different ways, but is typically mounted using bolts or screws that engage threaded metal inserts secured within the snowboard. Although different insert patterns have been proposed, inserts are typically secured to the snowboard in one of two different pattern types.

One type of pattern, commonly referred to as a 4 × 4 (four-by-four) pattern, consists of two vertical lines parallel to the board's vertical or chip-tail direction. Includes an insert that is secured to the snowboard. The inserts form one or more square pattern inserts, the inserts being located at the corners of each square pattern. The binding may be attached to the snowboard using a hold down disc (described below) with four holes matching one of the square pattern inserts. Once the four holes in the hold-down disk are aligned with one of the square pattern inserts, screws can be inserted into the holes, engage the inserts, and tighten to secure the disk and binding to the snowboard. The binding can be adjusted at locations along the tip-tail direction by reattaching the disc to the snowboard using a different square pattern insert.

[0004] A second insert pattern, commonly referred to as a 3D (R) hole pattern, is provided on a Barton Snowboard snowboard, which is arranged to form a plurality of equilateral triangular patterns. Includes insert. The insert of each equilateral triangle pattern is located at the apex of the triangle and has one side on the board parallel to the transverse or edge-edge direction. The binding can be secured to the snowboard using a holding disc with three holes at the top of the equilateral triangle. The holes can be aligned with one of the triangular patterns of the insert, and screws can be inserted into the holes to secure the disc to the snowboard. An example of a 3D® pattern is shown in US Pat. No. 5,261,689 to Carpenter et al.

[0005] While snowboard inserts reduce the strength of the board, they can increase the weight and cost of the snowboard. For example, the weight of the insert may be heavier than the portion of the board that the insert replaces, and / or the board may be placed in the vicinity of each insert, eg, additional Reinforcement such as glass fiber and / or stronger core material may be required. Thus, while maintaining the same or improved binding adjustment range (i.e., the total length along the board on which the binding can be mounted) and increments of adjustment (i.e., the distance between adjacent mounting positions), the snowboard insert can be adjusted. It is generally desirable to minimize the number of ports.

[0006]

[Outline of the invention]

 In one exemplary embodiment according to this invention, most mounting features on the board may be arranged along a row that generally extends in the chip-tail direction of the board. For example, all or substantially all of the inserts used to attach the bindings to the board of the board may be arranged along a single row parallel to the centerline of the board. A pattern of two or three mounting features may provide a binding mounting location. For example, all mounting features may be arranged along a row, and the binding mounting location may be provided by a pair of features or another group of features in that row. Thus, the number of mounting features required for a given number of binding mounting positions may be reduced and / or the binding mounting provided by a given number of mounting features compared to other mounting feature configurations. The number of locations can be increased. Further, by concentrating the mounting features along a single row, the board reinforcements intended to prevent dislodging or other dislodging of the features are concentrated along a narrower portion of the board, and Can potentially reduce weight and / or cost.

[0007] In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a snowboard comprises a tip, a tail, a metal edge and a longitudinal centerline extending in a tip-tail direction and substantially equidistant from the metal edge. May be provided. A plurality of mounting features may be provided on the snowboard, including at least three mounting features adapted to mount the snowboard binding. All mounting features may be located on a single line extending in the tip-tail direction. Thus, for example, mounting features may be arranged along a vertical row to form a plurality of linear mounting patterns for binding. Each mounting pattern may be formed by two or more mounting features on a vertical row. The mounting features may be equally spaced from each other, for example, in 25 mm increments, and may be located along or near the longitudinal centerline of the board.

In another aspect of the invention, an apparatus comprises a sliding board, such as a snowboard, having a tip and tail, a metal edge, and a base suitable for sliding on a snow surface, and at least three mountings for attaching the binding to the snowboard. Features. The mounting features may be arranged in at least one mounting feature pattern and along at least one row on the snowboard, at least one row extending in a tip-tail direction of the snowboard. The apparatus may also include a snowboard binding hold-down disc adapted to allow the tip-tail axis to extend in the tip-tail direction on the snowboard when the hold-down disc is mounted on the snowboard. The holding disc is an opening adapted to cooperate with a mounting feature pattern comprising only three mounting features arranged on the snowboard in only one or two rows for mounting the holding disc to the snowboard. May be provided.

In another exemplary embodiment according to an aspect of the invention, the center of the mounting feature that provides a plurality of binding mounting positions is located within a rectangular area on the board that is only 38 mm wide. In another aspect of the invention, the center of the mounting feature may be located only 19 mm from the centerline of the gliding board. In one exemplary embodiment according to these aspects of the invention, the mounting features may be arranged along two longitudinal rows extending within 19 mm from the centerline of the board. In another exemplary embodiment, the mounting features may be arranged along a single row parallel to the centerline of the board.

In another aspect of the invention, the gliding board includes a plurality of mounting features arranged in a plurality of patterns to provide at least three adjacent binding mounting locations. The mounting features are arranged such that when the presser disc is mounted on the board using one of the mounting feature patterns, the presser disc covers three mounting features. In another aspect of the invention, just three mounting features are covered by the disc. This feature may be provided by a mounting feature pattern that includes two or three features and by the placement of the mounting features along one or two rows. This is in contrast to conventional 3D (R) or 4x4 patterns, where three or more adjacent mounting locations are provided and four inserts are covered with a hold down disk when mounting the disk to the board. .

In another aspect of the invention, a plurality of mounting features of the snowboard having a tip, a tail, and a metal edge are secured to the snowboard and adapted to cooperate with the hold-down disc to transfer the binding to the snowboard. Can be attached. A foot, wherein a plurality of mounting features are disposed on the snowboard and include a first mounting position, a second mounting position adjacent to the first mounting position, and a third mounting position adjacent to the second mounting position. At least three binding mounting locations for the disc are provided on the snowboard, with the first and third mounting locations sharing one mounting feature.

[0012] In another aspect of the invention, a gliding board, such as a snowboard, includes a plurality of mounting features for mounting the binding to the board. Mounting features are located on the board to form at least three adjacent binding mounting locations. The binding mounting position is given by a pattern of mounting features such that no single mounting feature of the mounting feature pattern is shared for each of any two adjacent binding mounting positions.

In another exemplary embodiment, mounting features for mounting the binding to the gliding board are disposed on the gliding board and include at least two binding mounting locations spaced along the length of the board. Is provided. The increment of adjustment along the length of the board between the two binding mounting positions is less than a minimum distance between any two of the plurality of mounting features providing at least two binding mounting positions.

In another aspect of the invention, the number of mounting locations provided by the plurality of mounting features on the board is equal to two less than the number of mounting features. For example, if a set of mounting features that provide a plurality of binding mounting positions has a total of five mounting features, the set of mounting features may provide three binding mounting positions (five features- 2 = 3 mounting positions). Such a relationship between the number of mounting features and the number of binding mounting locations may exist in the mounting feature pattern. The mounting feature pattern includes two or three mounting features and where the mounting features are arranged along one or two rows. This is in contrast to the 4x4 and 3D (R) patterns. For example, a 4 × 4 pattern providing three binding mounting positions includes six mounting features, eg, a 3D (R) pattern providing three binding mounting positions includes at least six, and possibly seven, mounting features. .

[0015] These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent and / or apparent from a consideration of the following description and claims.

An exemplary embodiment according to aspects of the invention is described in connection with the following figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In one aspect of the invention, a plurality of mounting features (eg, metal inserts) are disposed on a gliding board, such as a snowboard, such that a single additional mounting feature is properly mounted on the board. In all cases additional binding positions can be added. This can be achieved in several ways. For example, in one embodiment using bindings that attach to the board via only two fasteners, the mounting features may be arranged in a single row along the centerline of the snowboard. Each pair of mounting features in a row may provide a binding mounting location, and adding one mounting feature at either end of the row may add another binding mounting location. . This is in contrast to traditional snowboarding. For example, for a 4x4 pattern, two additional mounting features must be added to add another binding mounting location. In the case of a 3D (R) pattern, another binding mounting location may be added by adding a single mounting feature at one location in the pattern, rather than at every location in the pattern. . For example, for a 3D (R) pattern that includes eight mounting features, at least two additional mounting features must be added to provide another binding mounting location at either end of the pattern. .

In another exemplary embodiment using bindings attached to the board using three fixtures, the mounting features may be arranged along two rows in the board, and the binding mounting location may be , Two mounting features in each pattern are positioned in the first row and the third mounting feature in the pattern is positioned in the other row. Because the row of mounting features is offset, adding one mounting feature at one end of the row adds another binding mounting location. Thus, by adding a smaller number of mounting features than conventional hole patterns, additional binding mounting locations may be added. For example, adding one attachment feature may add one binding attachment location.

[0019] In another aspect of the invention, non-adjacent binding mounting locations may share at least one mounting feature. This is in contrast to, for example, 4 × 4 and 3D (R) patterns where adjacent binding mounting locations share mounting features but non-adjacent binding mounting locations do not share mounting features. . By having non-adjacent binding mounting locations share at least one mounting feature, board mounting features can be used more efficiently. In one exemplary embodiment using bindings that are mounted via two fasteners, the mounting features may be arranged in a single row and the mounting features are equally spaced from each other along the row. The binding mounting location may be provided by a mounting feature pattern that includes two mounting features along a row, separated from each other by one mounting feature. In another illustrative embodiment using bindings mounted via three fasteners, in an exemplary embodiment, the mounting features may be arranged in two rows, so that the mounting features are provided by the mounting features of a triangular pattern. . Non-adjacent binding mounting locations may share one mounting feature. For example, first and third binding mounting positions adjacent to a second mounting position located between the first and third binding mounting positions may share one mounting feature. Also, in some embodiments, the first, second, and third binding mounting locations may share one mounting feature.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a snowboard 1 that incorporates some of the aspects of the invention described above. Various different illustrative embodiments are described herein that incorporate various different aspects of the invention. Aspects of the invention are not limited to the exemplary embodiments described below.

The snowboard 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a plurality of mounting features 2 that can be used to mount a snowboard binding or other mounting device (not shown) to the snowboard 1. The mounting features 2 may be any features that are compatible with corresponding mating features for mounting the binding to the snowboard 1. The present invention is not limited to any particular type of mounting feature. For example, the mounting feature 2 may be a threaded insert or stud of plastic or metal secured in a hole formed in the snowboard 1 using any suitable technique, and may be threaded into the plate. It may be a metal or plastic plate attached to the snowboard 1 having studs or holes that are not threaded or threaded, or any other suitable feature. In some embodiments, the mounting features 2 are separated from other mounting features, as is the case with individual metal inserts commonly used in snowboarding. In other embodiments, mounting features 2 may be connected together, such as when multiple metal inserts are integrally formed from a single plate, or otherwise mounted within a snowboard. They may be attached together to form a unit. The mounting feature 2 may be fixed on the snowboard 1. For example, the metal insert may be molded into the board or otherwise securely fastened.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the mounting features 2 are arranged on the snowboard 1 in two groups 17 and 18, each group for attaching different bindings to the snowboard 1. is there. The first group 17 includes mounting features 2A to 2F, and the second group 18 includes mounting features 2G to 2M. As an example, the first group 17 is used to attach the left foot binding (the binding is not shown in FIG. 1) to the snowboard 1 and the second group 18 is used to attach the right foot binding to the snowboard 1. You may. The mounting features 2 are arranged such that a suitable group of mounting features 2 forms a mounting feature pattern, each providing a binding mounting position. The mounting feature pattern may have any suitable configuration. For example, the mounting feature pattern may be formed by a pair of mounting features 2A and 2B, 2B and 2C, and the like. In this case in accordance with aspects of the invention, adjacent mounting feature patterns, such as, for example, a pattern having features 2A and 2B and a pattern having features 2B and 2C, share one mounting feature and are adjacent patterns. Only one mounting feature within is not shared. Alternatively, mounting feature patterns may be formed by another grouping of mounting features, such as patterns formed by alternating mounting features 2A and 2C, 2B and 2D, 2C and 2E. Good. In this case, according to one aspect of the invention, adjacent mounting feature patterns, such as, for example, a pattern including features 2A and 2C and 2B and 2D, do not share any mounting features. Another aspect of the invention that this type of attachment feature pattern illustrates is that non-adjacent attachment feature patterns, such as, for example, patterns including features 2A and 2C and 2C and 2E, At least one mounting feature, such as 2C, may be shared. In another embodiment, a group of three adjacent mounting features, such as, for example, features 2A, 2B and 2C, may provide binding mounting locations.

Each of the left and right foot bindings may be mounted to the snowboard 1 at a selected mounting position, for example, via a hold down disc 32 or the like, and holes 34 in the mounting features 2 on the board 1. It is arranged to cooperate with the pattern. The width of the rider's stance on the snowboard 1 can be reduced or widened, for example, by adjusting the position of the left foot and / or right foot bindings using different patterns of mounting features 2. The binding can be adjusted to secure the binding to the snowboard 1.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the hold-down disk 32 includes two holes 34 such that the third mounting feature is positioned between the two features in the pattern. It is adapted to cooperate with the pattern of the two mounting features 2 to be arranged. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, holes 34 in hold down disc 32 may cooperate with a pattern including mounting features 2A and 2C. Here, the mounting feature 2B of the pattern is positioned between the features 2A and 2C. Of course, the holes 34 may be formed in any suitable manner, for example, to cooperate with a pair of adjacent features (2A and 2B) or a set of three mounting features (2A, 2B and 2C). It may be arranged.

One aspect of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 is that when the hold-down disk 32 is mounted to the board 1 by a mounting feature pattern such as features 2A and 2C, three mounting features, ie, features Parts 2A, 2B and 2C are covered with the disk 32. "Covered" means that the mounting features 2 are completely covered by the bottom of the disk 32, which is positioned on or near the top surface of the board when mounted on the board. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, disks 32 have a diameter of about 100 mm and mounting features 2 are spaced 25 mm from each other along the row. For example, feature 2B can be spaced 25 mm from both features 2A and 2C, feature 2D can be spaced 25 mm from both features 2C and 2E, and so on. Thus, holes 34 in disc 32 may be positioned so that disc 32 covers three mounting features 2 when mounted on the board. For example, hole 34 may be positioned about 25 mm from the outer circumference of disk 32 and 50 mm apart along a radial line of disk 32. Since the disc may have a truncated cone or step shape, the disc 32 has a maximum diameter of about 100 mm at the wide upper portion of the disc 32 which is typically positioned away from the board 1 and Has a diameter of about 85 mm at the smaller bottom of the disk 32 which normally contacts the top surface of the board when mounted on the board 1. In this case, the holes 34 can be positioned approximately 50 mm apart along the radial line of the disk 32, so that one hole 34 is positioned approximately 17.5 mm from the center of the disk 32 and the other hole 34 34 is positioned at about 32.5 mm from the center of the disk 32. In such a configuration, disk 32, the smaller bottom of disk 32, covers more than three mounting features 2 when mounted on a board where mounting features 2 are spaced 25mm apart. Never.

It should be appreciated that in the embodiment of FIG. 1, additional mounting locations may be added to the board 1 by adding a single mounting feature 2 to the board 1 for all locations in the pattern. . For example, mounting features 2 may be added to either end of a row of features 2 in first group 17 to add another binding mounting location. For example, feature 2 may be added to the right of attachment feature 2F and positioned to cooperate with feature 2E to form another attachment feature pattern. This allows the mounting features 2 to be used efficiently. This is because only a minimal number of mounting features need to be added to provide additional mounting locations.

Another aspect of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 is that most of the mounting features 2 are located on the board 1 along a first row. In fact, in this embodiment, all of the mounting features used to mount the binding to the board are located along a first column that is collinear with the center line CL of the board. Another aspect of the invention illustrated is that the mounting feature 2 is centered within 19 mm from the centerline CL of the board and the mounting feature 2 is only 38 mm wide (eg, measured perpendicular to the centerline CL). Is determined within a rectangular area having only the specified dimensions). With these aspects of the invention, the spacing of the mounting features 2 is made closer by a single line along the board 1 so that a narrower zone than is possible with other mounting feature configurations. It is possible to concentrate the reinforcement of the board on the board. For example, a single row of mounting features in FIG. 1 may have a relatively narrow hardwood strip or other in a narrower area near centerline CL as compared to other configurations such as 4 × 4 and 3D (R). It makes it possible to use board enhancements. It should be appreciated that this aspect of the invention is not limited to positioning the mounting features along a single row collinear with or parallel to center line CL. Alternatively, the mounting features may be positioned in any suitable manner within a rectangular area having a width within 19 mm or only 38 mm from the center line. The rectangular areas may be aligned along the center line CL or across the center line CL. The centerline CL is an imaginary line that extends in the longitudinal or tip-tail direction of the snowboard 1 and is equally spaced from the edge 16 of the board.

In another aspect of the invention, the configuration of the mounting feature 2 shown in FIG. 1 also provides an overall range of adjustment. That is, the overall length over which the binding can be mounted to the snowboard 1 is greater than a 4 × 4 and 3D (R) pattern having the same number of mounting features. For example, a 4.times.4 pattern providing the same number of mounting positions and full adjustment range as the pattern shown in FIG. 1 would necessarily require more mounting features 2. FIG. This is because four mounting features 2 must be used to mount the binding to each mounting position, and two additional mounting features 2 must be added to the pattern for each new mounting position. is there. Reducing the number of mounting features 2 in the snowboard 1 may allow for a lighter board and / or require less board reinforcement near the mounting features 2 and reduce the number of features 2 from the snowboard 1. Can be prevented from coming off or other detachment.

The first group 17 of mounting features 2 in FIG. 1 includes six mounting features 2, while the second group 18 includes seven mounting features 2. However, for example, to provide different adjustment ranges for the binding, the first and second groups of mounting features 2 may each comprise any suitable number of mounting features other than six or seven mounting features 2. It should be understood that part 2 may also be included. The invention is not limited to using any particular number of mounting features 2. Further, the first and second groups 17 and 18 of mounting features 2 may include the same number of mounting features 2, for example, six inserts.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the mounting features 2 are arranged along a center line CL. However, this configuration is not essential. For example, a first group 17 of mounting features 2 may be arranged along a first row, and a second group 18 of mounting features 2 may be arranged along a second row. The first and second rows may or may not be parallel to or collinear with each other and / or the center line CL. Thus, the first and second groups 17 and 18 of mounting features 2 may be arranged along a line that is at an angle to one another and / or at an angle to the centerline CL. . Further, the snowboard 1 need not include two distinct groups 17 and 18 of mounting features 2, but instead have a single, continuous group of equally spaced mounting features 2. Is also good.

[0031] The snowboard 1 or other gliding board may be manufactured in any suitable manner using any suitable material. For example, the snowboard 1 may be a sidewall type board in which a wood core is positioned between upper and lower layers of fiber reinforced material (eg, glass fiber), a plastic-based material and a metal side wall. Edges may be included. The snowboard 1 may be a cap-structured snowboard or may be formed from other materials. The present invention is not limited to the manner in which the snowboard 1 is configured, the shape of the snowboard 1, or the material included in the snowboard 1.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed geometrical representation of the first group 17 of mounting features 2 of the specific exemplary embodiment of FIG. In this exemplary embodiment, mounting features 2 are positioned at or near each of points AF arranged in a single row. In this exemplary embodiment, points AF are 25 millimeters away from the nearest neighbor and a pair of points separated by a single point provides a binding mounting location for binding. For example, points A and C provide a binding mounting position P1, points B and D provide a binding mounting position P2, and so on. As used herein, the binding mounting position is defined by a point along the center line CL or another vertical reference line on the board 1 that is on the same horizontal line as the center point of the mounting feature pattern. It is. That is, the center point of the pattern is equidistant from the mounting features in the pattern that provide the binding mounting position. Thus, in this exemplary embodiment, the binding mounting position P1 is positioned equidistant from points A and C on center line CL. The increment of adjustment between the binding mounting positions, i.e., the distance between adjacent mounting positions, in this exemplary embodiment is equal to the minimum spacing between mounting features.

Another aspect of the present invention, illustrated by the mounting feature pattern shown in FIG. 2, is that by adding a single additional mounting feature 2, additional binding mounting positions P at all positions in the pattern are provided. Can be added. For example, adding a mounting feature at point G in FIG. 2 adds an additional binding mounting position P5. This is not the case for 4 × 4 and 3D (R) patterns. In the case of a 4x4 pattern, four inserts are used to place the binding in the mounting position, so two additional inserts must be added to the existing pattern to provide additional mounting positions. In the case of 3D (R) patterns, it may be possible to add additional binding mounting positions by providing a single further insert, but this is not the case for all positions in the pattern. That is, at some locations in the pattern, two additional inserts must be added to provide additional mounting locations.

[0034] Aspects of the present invention in which only one mounting feature needs to be added to provide additional mounting locations are not limited to the particular pattern shown in FIG. 2 but achieve this result. It should also be appreciated that other mounting feature patterns could be used.

In another aspect of the invention, the number of binding mounting positions P provided by the mounting features is equal to two less than the number of mounting features. In FIG. 2, a total of six mounting features at points AF can provide four binding mounting positions P1-P4. The relationship between the number of binding positions and the total number of mounting features remains the same, as additional binding positions can be added each time a mounting feature is added. This is the case, for example, when a mounting feature is provided at point G, thereby adding a mounting position P5.

As described above, the binding 3 is attached to the snowboard 1 as shown in FIG. 3 using the hold-down disc 32 which is positioned so that the hole 34 overlies the attachment feature 2 in the snowboard 1. obtain. Although the binding 3 is shown in FIG. 3 as a conventional tray binding having a toe strap 37 and a high back 38, the invention is also limited to the binding 3 including these and / or any other specific elements. Not something. Whether the rider is wearing soft or hard snowboard boots or other footwear, the binding 3 may be any type of binding, such as strap binding, step-in binding, plate binding, or the like. Any other type of device used to attach a foot to the snowboard 1 may be used. The invention is not limited to the use of any particular type of binding 3. Unlike other types of bindings, such as water ski bindings, the binding 3 may be a non-secure release binding, so that once the rider's feet are securely fastened to the binding, a strap or other securement is required. The foot will not be released from the binding unless the tool is released. For example, in typical water skis and ski bindings, the rider / skier's foot may fall out of the binding, for example, during a fall.

When mounting the binding 3 to the snowboard 1, the holes 34 in the holding disc 32 can be aligned with the corresponding mounting features 2 in a suitable mounting position, the disc 32 comprising, for example, screws By being engaged with the snowboard 2, the snowboard 1 can be firmly fixed at the mounting position. The holding disc 32 may be engaged with an opening formed in the base plate 33 of the binding 3. The holding disc 32 engages with an opening in the base plate 33 to secure the binding 3 to the snowboard 1 and / or to provide any suitable feature that prevents rotation of the base plate 33 relative to the holding disc. May have. For example, the invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the hold-down disc 32 is formed in a base plate 33 near the opening, as described in US Pat. No. 5,261,689. It may have a truncated pyramid with teeth on the lower surface that engages the teeth. The holes 34 in the holding disc 32 can be arranged to provide a plurality of adjustment positions, for example, to allow adjustment of the binding 3 in the edge-to-edge direction. With such an arrangement, there may be more than one place to attach the binding to the board using the same mounting features on the board. Presser disc 32 may have a hole pattern to accommodate the mounting feature pattern, as well as the hole pattern of the present invention described above (eg, a 4 × 4 and / or 3D® pattern). Thus, the hold-down disk 32 may be a so-called universal disk that mounts the disk 32 using two or more different mounting feature 2 patterns.

FIG. 4 shows one exemplary embodiment of a holding disc 32 according to another aspect of the invention. Presser disc 32 is particularly adapted to use the mounting feature pattern described above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, and has two through holes for receiving mountings (eg, screws) to mount mounting feature 2. 34. In this exemplary embodiment, each hole 34 has a corrugated notch providing seven different adjustment positions, for example, so that the position of the holding disc 32 and the corresponding binding 3 on the snowboard 1 Edge-to-edge or lateral adjustment. That is, in this embodiment, each hole 34 provides seven different lateral adjustment positions (e.g., spaced in 5 millimeter increments) where screws pass through hole 34 and disc 32 is removed from snowboard 1. Can be fixed firmly. Enough holes 34 may be provided to provide a range of edge-to-edge or lateral adjustments of at least 25 mm, 30 mm, 35 mm, 40 mm or more. A holding disc 32 having a diameter of about 100 mm can provide such an adjustment range. This is in contrast to 4x4 or 3D (R) pattern presser discs, which provide only up to about 20 mm of lateral adjustment. These discs tend to be limited with a given lateral adjustment range. This is because 4x4 and 3D (R) patterns force the holes in the disk to be positioned near the outer periphery of the disk. The positioning of the holes near the perimeter typically limits the extent of the holes to avoid weakening the disc and / or forming the holes too close to the perimeter. is there. Of course, aspects of the present invention directed to the new hold down disc 32 are not limited to using holes 34 having six or seven corrugated notch adjustment positions. Each hole 34 may be provided with only one single adjustment position, may be replaced by a number of spaced holes, each providing a single adjustment position, and separate adjustment positions may be provided. It may be formed as an oval hole without any or may include a different number of adjustment locations. Thus, in another aspect of the invention, disk 32 may include two parallel rows of holes spaced apart. That is, the slot holes 34 in FIG. 4 may be replaced by any suitable spaced, distinct holes. The set of holes may be adapted such that the center of the disc is located at the centerline CL of the board.

One aspect of the invention illustrated in FIG. 4 is that at least two elongated slot holes 34 in the disk 32 intersect the chip-tail axis of the disk 32. This is typical of typical 3D (R) and 4x4 discs where two or more slots that are adapted to cooperate with the mounting feature pattern to mount the disc do not intersect the tip-tail axis of the disc. Not applicable. The tip-tail axis of the disc is an imaginary line on the disc that is oriented through the center of the disc and parallel to the centerline CL of the board when the disc 32 is mounted on the board 1. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, holes 34 are perpendicular to the tip-tail axis. The holes may be in any suitable manner, such as cooperating with a mounting feature pattern comprising two mounting features spaced from each other in the row by, for example, 50 mm or any other suitable distance. May be arranged. Similarly, the disc 32 may have three holes 34 so that the disc can be mounted on the board with a linear pattern of three mounting features 2. In this case, three slot holes 34 may intersect the tip-tail axis.

Another aspect of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 4, is that the slot hole 34 is adapted to cooperate with the mounting feature pattern so that it extends transversely to the tip-tail direction, eg, transversely. Using the same mounting feature pattern on the snowboard and the same slot opening in the hold-down disk while still providing adjustment of the hold-down disk to the board in the first and second different orientations. . This lateral adjustment can be made without changing the position of the holding disc in the tip-tail direction. The difference between the first and second orientations may be 180 revolutions of the disk relative to the board, so that the center of the disk may be located at different positions along the centerline CL. In this exemplary embodiment, hole 34A is positioned about 18.75 mm from the center OD of the disc, and hole 34B is positioned about 31.25 mm from the center OD. Because holes 34A and 34B are separated by about 50 mm, the midpoint between the holes is offset from the center OD of the disk by about 6.25 mm. Thus, for example, if the disk 32 is mounted on the mounting features 2A and 2C of FIG. 2 in the orientation shown in FIG. 4, the center OD of the disk will be positioned at the vertical adjustment position A1 shown in FIG. You. The position A1 is about 6.25 mm to the left of the binding mounting position P1. If the disc 32 is then rotated 180 ° and mounted via the mounting features 2A and 2C, the center OD will be positioned at the vertical adjustment position A2 approximately 6.25 mm to the right of the binding mounting position P1. You. If the disc 32 is then rotated 180 ° and mounted via the mounting features 2B and 2D, the center OD will be approximately 12.5mm to the right of position A2 and 6.25mm to the left of the binding mounting position P2, It is positioned at the vertical adjustment position A3. Thus, by offsetting the holes 34 in the disc 32, a longitudinal adjustment position for the disc 32 may be provided based on the orientation of the disc with respect to the board. Of course, holes 34 in disk 32 may be positioned in any suitable manner with respect to the center of disk 32.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the disc 32 includes a reference feature including an angle indication mark 35 that provides an indication of the orientation of the binding 3 to the snowboard 1 or the disc 32. In FIG. 4, the angle indicating mark 35 is incremented by 30 ° and the marks 0 °, 30 °, 60 ° and 90 ° are marked. Angle indication marks 35 may be provided on a finer or coarser scale and / or additional angle indication marks, such as 45 ° marks, may be provided. Also, the angle indicating mark may be positioned on the disk 32 in any suitable manner. For example, the 0 ° mark may be changed to a 90 ° mark, and the other marks 35 may be adjusted accordingly. The disc 32 may have a sign indicating the tip-tail direction and / or the edge 16 of the snowboard 1, such as a double-headed arrow and a character sign extending between the tip-tail marks (eg, 0 ° -0 ° marks). It may also include a sign indicating the approximate location. These additional markings can aid in proper positioning of the disc 32 on the snowboard 1. The angle indicating mark 35 may be permanently formed on the disc 32, such as by molding the mark 35 in the disc 32, or a disc, such as a sticker or other label adhered to the disc 32. 32. The invention is not limited to these particular marking features, but may be any suitable indicia. Further, in some embodiments, the angle indicator 35 or other indicator on the disk 32 may be omitted.

As mentioned above, various aspects of the invention may be implemented in a variety of different ways. The embodiments described above incorporate aspects of the invention and generally include mounting features (for one binding) arranged along a single row. Such a configuration of the mounting features is not required for many aspects of the invention. Also, the aspects of the invention described above are not limited to use on snowboards and snowboard equipment, but various aspects of the invention may be applied to any sliding board or other leisure, such as ski, snowshoe, or wakeboard. It should also be understood that it can be used for equipment.

While this invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention as described herein are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a snowboard having a mounting feature pattern and a matching hold down disc in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagrammatic representation of a portion of the mounting feature pattern of the embodiment shown in FIG.

3 is a perspective view of a binding mounted on a snowboard having the mounting feature pattern of FIG. 1 using a retaining disc.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a hold-down disk according to one embodiment of the present invention, which may be used, for example, with the mounting feature pattern shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 board, 2 mounting features, 32 holding disc,
34 holes.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor J. Scott Barbieri, United States, 05753 Vermont, Middlebury, Woodbridge Lane, 11 (72) Inventor Christian Breuer Austria, 6094 Axams, Nappen 2,

Claims (14)

[Utility model registration claims] A snowboard having a tip, a tail, a metal edge (16) and a longitudinal centerline (CL) extending in a tip-tail direction and substantially equidistant from the metal edge. (1) and a plurality of mounting features (2) including at least three mounting features adapted to mount the snowboard binding (3) to the snowboard, wherein all of the mounting features are in tip-to-tail direction. The device is arranged on a single line extending to the. 2. A plurality of mounting features disposed in at least one group (17, 18) on a snowboard for mounting a snowboard binding to a snowboard, wherein the at least one group is fixed in place and singly. Device according to claim 1, comprising at least three mounting features and preferably at least five mounting features equally spaced along a line. 3. The mounting feature is arranged to provide at least three mounting feature patterns, each providing a binding mounting position (P) for snowboard binding, wherein the at least three mounting feature patterns are first. A mounting position, a second mounting position adjacent to the first mounting position, and a third mounting position adjacent to the second mounting position, wherein the first and third mounting positions are one of the mounting features.
Device according to claim 1 or 2, sharing one. 4. The mounting features are arranged in two groups spaced along a single line, wherein the mounting features in each one of the groups are adjacent in one of the groups. 4. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the mounting features in the different groups are equally spaced from the mounting features and the closest mounting features in the different groups are further spaced apart than adjacent mounting features in the group. apparatus. 5. A plurality of mounting features, wherein the plurality of mounting features are located on mounting features of a first group (17) for mounting the first snowboard binding to the snowboard.
Are spaced apart by an integer multiple of 25 millimeters from all other mounting features in the first group, and the second mounting feature for mounting the second snowboard binding to the snowboard. Of the second group (18), wherein each mounting feature in the second group is 25% from all other mounting features in the second group.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the device is spaced by an integer number of millimeters. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a snowboard binding mounted to the snowboard via at least one mounting feature. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the snowboard binding is mounted to the snowboard via only two of the mounting features. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the only two mounting features include two mounting features with one mounting feature positioned therebetween. 9. The snowboard binding of claim 6, further comprising two fasteners, wherein the snowboard binding includes a hold-down plate (32) attached to the snowboard by two fasteners that engage the mounting features. The described device. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the holding plate covers exactly three of the mounting features when mounted on the snowboard via at least two mounting features. 11. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the holding plate is spaced by about 50 millimeters and includes at least two openings (34) adapted to fit two of the mounting features. . 12. A method according to claim 1, wherein substantially all mounting features and more preferably all mounting features fixed to the snowboard are arranged along a longitudinal centerline. An apparatus according to claim 1. 13. The mounting feature of claim 1, wherein the mounting feature is a threaded insert secured to the snowboard.
An apparatus according to any one of the above. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mounting features in the group are spaced apart from adjacent mounting features in the group by about 25 millimeters.